7-footer Justin Hamilton won't be returning to LSU Tigers next season

BATON ROUGE -- LSU center Justin Hamilton's decision Thursday to pursue a professional career left the Tigers' basketball team short-handed both in numbers and stature. The Tigers expected to have their top five scorers back for next season, but now will be without the 7-footer from Alpine, Utah, who led LSU with 12.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

Susan Poag / The Times-PicayuneJustin Hamilton led the Tigers with 12.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

"I will graduate next month, and I am getting married this summer," Hamilton said in a release. "I am ready to take the next step in my life. Again, I would like to thank everyone that has helped me along the way, and especially the fans here at LSU."

LSU also will lose senior forwards Storm Warren and Malcolm White, who averaged a combined 11.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Other than Johnny O'Bryant, who is 6 feet 9, all of the returning Tigers who averaged more than 10 minutes per game are 6 feet 6 or shorter.

O'Bryant was in and out of the starting lineup this past season, starting 17 games and playing in 28. He started the Tigers' NIT game against Oregon, and averaged the fifth-most minutes per game on the team (21.4).

Hamilton, who spent two seasons at LSU after transferring from Iowa State, played in all 33 games in 2011-12 and started all but one. He was second-team All-SEC.

"His development from the time he arrived prior to the 2010-11 season has been very impressive," LSU Coach Trent Johnson said in a release. "During this process, our responsibility as a basketball staff was to make sure we educated Justin and his family of the many challenges that will lie in front of him."

Hamilton is not listed on most NBA draft boards, and he might have to play overseas to eventually make an NBA roster.

Hamilton scored in double figures in 25 games and had four double-doubles. He scored 27 points in a loss at Florida on Jan. 21, the highest total for any Tiger in a single game this past season.

LSU's only commitment thus far is 6-foot-3 shooting guard Malik Morgan, a four-star recruit. One possibility on LSU's radar is 6-foot-10, former five-star recruit Norvel Pelle from Compton, Calif. The No. 1 center in the Class of 2011 decommitted from St. John's and went to a prep school last year.

The Tigers missed out on Louisiana two-time Gatorade Player of the Year Ricardo Gathers, a 6-foot-8 forward from Riverside, who committed to Baylor.